Carpe Diem
by Diana-Jae
Summary: She was shy and timid but had big dreams. He was confident and daring but hadn't the motivation. When they meet, they turn each other's lives upside down. A Kurama/Botan story.


**-- Carpe Diem --**

**Author Notes**: Well, here's another of Rhea's attempts at a Kurama x Botan fic. This was actually an idea that I thought up last year and only started writing early this year and has been sitting in my hard-drive collecting dust all the while cuz I thought it was a crap story. ^^;; It just sounded too lame and it didn't have enough content to count as one chapter so I let it just sit, but here it is, rewritten so that it'd actually have a plot. :P Anyhoo, enjoy! Reviews, flames, and other random criticisms are welcome – not really necessary (especially for this fic) but definitely welcome. =]

**

"Shuuichi-sama!"

"Don't look now, Minamino, but your one-woman fan club's headed this way."

Shuuichi grumbled some incoherent words and then turned around with a sweet smile upon his visage and put on his most pleasant voice.

"Good morning, Koyuuri. What brings your beautiful face to this side of the school?"

"Oh, you're so sweet, Shuuichi-sama," the girl squealed, flustered at Shuuichi's delightful words. 

She broke into a wide smile and was ready to give the poor boy a bone-crushing hug when she heard forced coughing. Looking up she saw the shorter, spiky-haired boy. 

"Oh. Hi, Hiei."

"What?" he snorted. "No title for me? That hurts, Koyuuri." 

He pointed to his rear. 

"Hurts right here."

Shuuichi broke into a chuckle but upon seeing the look in Koyuuri's eyes, he quickly apologized.

"Eh, Shuuichi-sama, I was wondering if you wanted to walk with me after school."

That was definitely the last thing the red-haired boy wanted – though she was admittedly very beautiful, a date with the snottiest and stupidest girls in the university did not sound quite enticing. Not to mention that she held a high reputation of being the university's biggest flirt and actually got away with it. Shuuichi was just not that kind of person, nor did he look for those attributes in a girl.

Shuuichi cast a sideway glance at his friend, silently begging him to get him out of the forthcoming doom that would await him once his last class ended. The shorter boy only sniggered but nodded his agreement.

"Sorry, Koyuuri, but Shuu and I have something to do after school. He already agreed to come with me to tutor a friend."

The pink-haired girl glared murder at the shorter boy as he kept a sly smile on his face and slowly turned her head to Shuuichi, her eyes still refusing to leave Hiei making sure that whatever power she was emitting would burn him through. 

"Shuuichi-sama?"

"Sorry, Koyuuri. I did already make plans."

Koyuuri stood there surprised at first, but after letting his statement sink in, she snorted and haughtily walked in the opposite direction yelling obscenities at the boy. 

"You'll be sorry you ever turned me down, Minamino!"

"What happened to his title, Koyuuri!?" Hiei hollered back, and the two boys laughed as soon as she turned the corner.

**

"I'm telling you, Minamino. If you want the brat to stop harassing you, you should just stop acting so nice towards her. It's not like any of your words are genuine anyway," he looked at his friend, "are they?"

Shuuichi stopped walking and wrinkled his nose at the notion.

"She may physically look like university material, but mentally she hasn't graduated elementary." 

Hiei immediately took the hint.

"Say, what are you doing now?"

"Headed to the house of the _friend_ I'm tutoring."

"You were serious?"

"Hey, I know I'm a good liar, but when I don't have to, I won't."

"Point taken. Are you obligated to do it?"

"Oukui-sensei is having me tutor her. The deal was that it would make up for the damage I caused last semester during community service week. You can't ever trust freshmen, can you?"

Shuuichi nodded as he recalled the disastrous event. "So, who's the soul in need of tutoring?"

"Miharu. She may be easy on the eyes, but she's just like Koyuuri. No brains." 

Hiei groaned, his body stooped over in mental agony and pity for himself.

"Miharu…" Shuuichi paused to think and cringed. "I feel your pain." Shuuichi patted his friend on the back and put on a smile. "Well, good luck, buddy. Tell me what heaven is like when you get there."

Hiei only growled and then looked up to glare at his friend. "You're an ungrateful sack of shit, you know that, Shuuichi?"            

Shuuichi answered his friend with a fairly amused chuckle and would have continued his assault on the shorter boy had it not been for the high-pitched squealing of a girl.

"Hiei-sensei! Minamino-sama!!"

The two boys halted in their tracks and an almost comical fear overtook both their faces. Hiei was the first to budge and look over his shoulder only to confirm his fears. Large and hungry lavender eyes, short, bouncy sky-blue hair and the toothiest grin one had ever seen. After Koyuuri, she was every male's worst nightmare. On the other hand, at least she wasn't a seductress with dark intentions, though for Shuuichi, anything was possible.

"I thought I was meeting you at your house," Hiei said confused, the fright somewhat washed away.

"Sorry about that. My drama teacher kept me back another class so I wasn't able to go home. It's a good thing I caught you here, huh?"

Shuuichi and Hiei gave each other quick and knowing glances and, as if telepathically reading each other's minds, they flinched at the sudden thought that struck their minds at that moment.

"Anyway, let's go. Hiei-sensei has to do a good job of tutoring me, right? And Minamino-sama, why don't you join us?"

"I really shouldn't. I'll only be a bother." 

Shuuichi, once again, put on his sweetest smile and his most pleasing voice as he answered the girl, who had already made herself a place in between the two boys.

"No, don't be silly, Minamino-sama. You're always welcome at my house."

"You sound as if we know each other very well, Miharu."

"Well, everyone happens to know who Minamino-sama is. You're so cool!"

"Yeah, Minamino. You don't wanna upset one of your fans."

It was Shuuichi's turn to glare at the spiky-haired boy and Hiei's eyes just twinkled with revenge and shrugged. Casting one last murderous glare at his friend, Shuuichi sighed and looked down at the smiling Miharu, giving her an equally broad smile. 

"Why not? I have nothing better to do."

"Great! I'll even cook up dinner." She wasted no time in cutting off the circulation of the redhead's arm.

Hiei rolled his eyes and shook his head. Shuuichi immediately understood. They were in for a long night…and what a long night it would be, indeed. 

**

"So to rationalize the denominator, all you have to do is multiply both the numerator and the denominator by the denominator itself, right?"

"Yeah," he answered, his voice fairly unenthusiastic, before shooting the girl a look of annoyance, "and would you mind getting that pencil out of your mouth? It's beginning to irritate me."

"I can't help it. It helps me think!" Miharu retaliated before standing up and leaving the scattered pieces of paper and open books to Hiei.

"Hey! The lesson's not yet over. Where do you think you're going?"

"To the kitchen to cook dinner. Where else?" And she waited for no reply but headed to the kitchen.

"I'll have you know that I don't plan to stay overtime! Miharu!!" 

Not turning to look behind him where Shuuichi was sitting comfortably, watching the two, he continued with a snarl. 

"Don't even think about it, Minamino. One word out of you and I swear that your hide's gonna be used as my bathroom carpet!"

Shuuichi shrugged, an insignificant smile playing on his lips. "I wasn't going to say anything."

"Hn. Yeah right. I've known you for far too long, and it's scary how I can almost read you like a book."

At that moment, the sound of a paper-screen door sliding open made its way to the boys' ears followed by soft tip tapping on the wooden staircase of the house. 

Hiei was the first to turn his head towards the doorframe of the living room, and upon seeing the other blue-haired girl raised a hand up in an acknowledging gesture.

A small smile tugged at the corner of the girl's faint pink lips as she proceeded to query the youth if he were there to tutor her cousin again.

Her response came in the form of a deep groan as Hiei slumped back on the table, his cheek figuratively kissing the page of one of the many math books.

"Botan, honestly, could your cousin be any stupider?"

"I heard that!" roared Miharu from her spot in the kitchen.

"Well, could you?" Hiei retaliated. "Botan, I really wouldn't be here if your cousin didn't have such a hard time with this material. As it turns out, unfortunately for me, she does have difficulty grasping the concept, and I can't leave until I finish this lesson."

"So I take it you'll be having dinner here again, right?"

"I have no choice." He raised his head and looked towards the kitchen and sneered. "Damn you, Miharu!" he hollered.

Botan brought a slender hand to her lips and tried to suppress a giggle but failed. She stopped when her lilac eyes caught sight of another guest present there. 

Gorgeous could hardly describe what she saw before her. 

He just sat there completely relaxed with one leg crossed over the other, looking dumbstruck, his crimson hair falling in calm wisps over his deep emerald eyes and working their way down his shoulders. Perfect posture and even when he was sitting and was doing absolutely nothing, she could tell that he had poise. He just continued to sit there and look dumbfounded, though now, also amused.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know we had another guest."

Shuuichi raised a hand and shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. I'm kind of one of the unexpected guests per say."

Botan nodded her head.

"Well, uh…"

"Minamino. Shuuichi Minamino," he continued her sentence for her, his lips slightly tilting up.

"Shuuichi. Well, Shuuichi, I'm Botan." She bowed politely. "It's nice to meet you." 

She looked towards the kitchen briefly and caught site of her cousin stirring soup and then disappearing to the refrigerator. 

"It seems that the only effect of my sister's needing tutoring from Hiei is inviting more and more guests." 

"You can say that again," Hiei moaned. "We've been concentrating on one type of problem, and we've only made progress in the last half hour."

Botan couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I think I should help Miharu."

She politely bowed her way out and walked down the ill-lit hallway to the bright kitchen.

Shuuichi watched her disappear and then shifted his gaze to Hiei, who still had his head lazily dropped on the book.

"How old is she?"

"Who? Botan?"

"Mm-hmm."

"She's a third year at the high school at the other end of the district." He wasn't really paying much attention to his friend; he was too engrossed in his own self-pity. "You know, the high school Urameshi went to."

"Is she taken?"

"Taken?"

"You know, does she have a boyfriend?"

Hiei raised his head from the book and fixed a steady gaze on his friend, his eyes deep, as if he were debating with himself. Then his brow arched. 

"She's…well…no…don't even go there, Minamino."

Shuuichi looked at his friend, confused.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

A twinkle of mischief danced its way through the shorter boy's crimson eyes.

"Don't try to hide it from me, Minamino."

"Hide what?"

"You like her."

"The hell?"

"Horse shit, Minamino."

"Has Miharu finally managed to deconstruct that brain of yours?"

"Don't play dumb with me."

"What? I can't just ask about a girl?"

"Liar," Hiei's teasing accusation was mixed with a snicker. He didn't bother to look at the redhead seated on the couch, not wanting to deal with death glares, and shrugged.

"There's plain physical attraction, buddy. You can't deny that." He pointed a finger at Shuuichi to halt him from any attempts at an interruption. "It really is scary how I can read you like a book. Far too long, Minamino. I've known you for far too long."

Shuuichi was on the verge at a counter to that when Miharu's singsong voice chirped up and walked in the room carrying a large tray with four bowls of steaming miso soup sitting nicely on it.

Botan followed her the older girl carrying a similar tray with similar bowls filled with rice and other small delicacies.

Out of politeness and possibly habit, both boys abruptly halted their conversation. Shuuichi stood up to help the girls with the trays of food while Hiei took care of discarding the large arithmetic books and mangled pieces of binder paper off of the table and positioned them into a neater pile at the other end of the room. 

Miharu had already gone to put her tray onto the table despite Shuuichi's attempt to help her saying that she had it just fine and that as a guest, he should just stay seated and make himself comfortable.

Hiei snickered as he cast his friend a mocking look. Shuuichi refrained from saying anything but scowled instead, grumbling to himself, while unconsciously walking towards Botan. 

Shuuichi looked down at the girl who was holding the tray, a delicate smile on her dainty pink lips. He equally matched her smile and pointed down at the tray.

"Need help with that, Botan?"

Her smile only widened, and her lilac eyes brightened as she looked into bottle-green orbs, instantly captivated but not for more than a moment before shaking her head vigorously and stepping back a little.

"No thanks, Shuu-kun."

"Shuu-kun?" He turned his head sideways, amused eyes following her.

"I appreciate the offer though," she called back over her shoulder.

Once the four teenagers were comfortably settled around the table, they engaged in small talk while placing what Hiei preferred to call poison into their mouths.

**

**Final Notes**: Wow… *blink* There was barely any Kurama and Botan interaction at all. Hmm, even after revision, this is still a crap story. And, no, this will not end up a Hiei/Miharu fic. I'm just that dedicated to the midget. :P~ But on another note, I am very disappointed in myself. ^^;; Arrggh… lately my writing's been for sh**. This is supposed to get better in the upcoming chapters though, but wow, I barely even put a good teaser here. I'm so disappointed… Excuse the author while she goes and buries herself under a molding rock now. 

By the way, Yuu Yuu Hakusho and its characters don't belong to me in any way. So if your parents or relatives or anyone you know are licensed pro-lawyers, be kind. I am too poor to be sued. You won't even get a penny. Maybe half, if you're lucky.


End file.
